Chinese cleared to make short trips to Singapore

SINGAPORE－The first batch of Chinese visitors arrived in Singapore on the evening of Nov 6, after Singapore granted entry to short-term visitors from the Chinese mainland starting that day.

They flew to Singapore from Shanghai by taking a five-hour flight with Juneyao Airlines and arrived at Terminal One in Changi Airport at 9:30 pm.

There were 129 passengers onboard the HO1605 flight. They were mainly business travelers and short-term visitors, said Chen Qingyu, general manager of Juneyao Airlines Singapore Branch.

Zhang Zheyue, 28, said she was happy to be among the first batch of short-term visitors from the Chinese mainland to enter Singapore. She came from Yangzhou, East China's Jiangsu province. She wore a face mask and a pair of goggles on the airplane for personal protection.

This was her fifth visit to Singapore. She planned to tour Universal Studios Singapore and the Singapore Zoo. Zhang said she would stay in the city for several days before flying to the United States to meet her husband who is studying there.

Arriving at the airport, the passengers underwent a COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction test. If they test negative, they don't need to isolate for 14 days, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore on Oct 29. The test results will be issued within 48 hours and typically within 12 hours.

Chen said that Singapore's eased travel restrictions demonstrated their confidence in China's control of the COVID-19 outbreak. He expected the number of travelers between the Chinese mainland and Singapore would rise.

Currently, there is only one flight a week linking Shanghai and Singapore from his airline. The company will monitor the situation and regulations closely to make adjustments, he said.

Starting from Oct 30, visitors can apply for an air travel pass for entry into Singapore on or after Nov 6, according to CAAS.

This latest move followed the earlier lifting of border restrictions for visitors from Australia (excluding the State of Victoria), Brunei, New Zealand and Vietnam.

Since 11:59 pm on March 23, Singapore banned the entry and transit of all short-term visitors in an attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19.

According to statistics from the Singapore Tourism Board, 3.6 million visitors from the Chinese mainland visited Singapore in 2019, which is the largest number of foreign visitors Singapore received last year.

Xinhua